Wikimedia CommonsCulture
Persian / Zoroastrian
Location
Fars Province, Iran
Key Figures
Jamshid, Darius I, Zahhak, Fereydun
Images via Wikimedia Commons
The Myth
The story as told by the culture
The Persians knew Persepolis as Takht-e Jamshid — the Throne of Jamshid. In the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), Ferdowsi's 11th-century epic that preserves pre-Islamic Iranian mythology, Jamshid was the fourth king of the world, who ruled for 700 years in a golden age. He taught humanity agriculture, weaving, medicine, and navigation. He divided society into four classes. He built a magnificent throne that could fly through the air, carried by demons he had bound to his service.
But Jamshid was corrupted by pride, claiming to be a god. His farr (royal glory, a divine radiance granted to legitimate kings) abandoned him, and he was overthrown by the serpent-shouldered tyrant Zahhak — from whose shoulders grew two snakes that had to be fed daily with human brains. Zahhak ruled for a thousand years of terror before being defeated by the hero Fereydun.
The identification of Persepolis with Jamshid's throne reflects a mythological reading of the ruins — the massive stone columns and carved reliefs suggested a glory beyond mortal achievement. The Nowruz (Persian New Year) reliefs on the Apadana staircase depict representatives of 23 nations bearing tribute — an image of cosmic order and multiethnic harmony that resonates with both Achaemenid imperial ideology and Zoroastrian concepts of asha (truth/righteousness).
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Myth types
The Place
The physical location today
Persepolis sits on a partially artificial terrace at the foot of Kuh-e Rahmat ('Mountain of Mercy') on the Marvdasht plain in Fars Province, about 37 miles northeast of Shiraz. The terrace, measuring roughly 1,500 by 1,000 feet, supports the remains of massive stone buildings: the Apadana (audience hall), the Throne Hall (Hall of 100 Columns), the Tachara (private palace of Darius), and the Gate of All Nations.
The Apadana staircase reliefs — depicting tribute-bearers in extraordinary ethnographic detail — are among the finest surviving examples of Achaemenid art. The scale of the ruins is immense: 72-foot columns, monumental stone doorways carved with scenes of the king and winged figures, and carved rock tombs in the cliff behind the complex.
Visit information
Access
Ticketed — Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization
Nearest city
Shiraz, Iran (37 mi)
Notes
Allow 2-3 hours minimum. The site is fully exposed to the sun — bring water and shade. Early morning or late afternoon light is best for photography. Combine with nearby Naqsh-e Rostam (royal tombs) and Naqsh-e Rajab (Sasanian rock reliefs). Shiraz is the gateway city.
The History
What archaeology and scholarship tell us
Persepolis was founded by Darius I (Darius the Great) around 518 BCE and expanded by his successors Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I. It served as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire — the world's first superpower, stretching from Egypt to Central Asia. The site was primarily used for the Nowruz celebration and for receiving tribute from subject nations.
Alexander the Great conquered and burned Persepolis in 330 BCE — reportedly in retaliation for the Persian burning of Athens 150 years earlier, though ancient sources disagree on whether the burning was deliberate or drunken accident. The site was never reoccupied and survived as ruins, gradually mythologized as Takht-e Jamshid. Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt conducted the first systematic excavations in the 1930s. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1979.
Sources
Ferdowsi (trans. Davis, Dick). Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (2006). Penguin Classics. Standard English translation of the Shahnameh including the Jamshid and Zahhak narratives
Tier 1Curtis, John and Nigel Tallis (eds.). Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (2005). British Museum Press. Comprehensive catalogue accompanying the British Museum's Persepolis exhibition
Tier 2Nearby Sites
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Mythological: Jamshid's reign (legendary); Historical: 518-330 BCE (Achaemenid)
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